Reclosable plastic bags with sliders for operating the zippers of these bags are commonly used in various packaging applications. The zipper typically includes male and female tracks forming respective interlocking profiles. In the manufacture of a thermoplastic bag, the male and female tracks extend along the mouth of the bag and are adapted to be secured in any suitable manner to respective opposing flexible panels of the bag. The male and female tracks may be integral marginal portions of these flexible panels or they may be extruded separately and thereafter attached to the flexible panels along the mouth of the bag. The slider, which is mounted to the zipper, is used to open and close the zipper. When the slider is in a closed position, the profiles are interlocked with each other. In response to moving the slider to an open position, the profiles are disengaged from each other.
One example of a slider for operating a zipper of a reclosable bag is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. This slider 10 includes a transverse support member 12, a pair of legs 14a and 14b, and a pair of wings 16a and 16b. The pair of legs 14a and 14b extend downward from opposing sides of the support member 12. The pair of wings 16a and 16b are hingedly connected to the opposing sides of the support member 12 and, when the slider 10 is mounted to the zipper as shown in FIG. 1, the wings 16a and 16b extend downward from the opposing sides of the support member 12. To secure the slider 10 to the zipper after it has been mounted thereto, the wings 16a and 16b form respective shoulders 18a and 18b (see FIG. 2). The shoulders 18a and 18b extend inwardly toward each other and contact respective adjacent portions of the bag below their respective profiles 20a and 20b, thereby retaining the slider on the zipper.
FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the slider 10 mounted to the zipper. It can be seen that the gap D.sub.1 between the inwardly extending shoulders 18a and 18b is smaller than the distance D.sub.2 between the outermost portions of the interlocking profiles 20a and 20b. As a result, the shoulders 18a and 18b effectively maintain the slider 10 in mounting relationship with the zipper. Extremely high forces are required to separate the mounted slider 10 from the zipper. However, such forces could occur if, for example, the contents of the bag are extremely heavy and a user attempts to lift the bag by the slider alone. The present invention makes it more difficult to separate the slider from the zipper.